Kent Bush: GOP needs someone to take the wheel

Wednesday

The problem for the GOP is that they have a common enemy but no friends. There is only so much political and popularity pie, and everyone is trying to secure their own piece.

The Republican Party needs a coach.

Not a obscenity spouting Olympic half-pipe coach. They need someone like Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. He is the only coach so far to figure out how to get so many stars to play nice together.

The problem for the GOP is that they have a common enemy but no friends.

There is only so much political and popularity pie, and everyone is trying to secure their own piece.

But splitting into splinter groups is no way to lead.

In deference to Oscar on "The Office," "Look, it doesn't take a genius to know that every organization thrives when it has two leaders. Go ahead, name a country that doesn't have two presidents. A boat that sets sail without two captains. Where would Catholicism be, without the popes?"

Sarah Palin was the queen of the Tea Party Ball. That's not unexpected since it was a groundswell. Groundswells give way to popularity contests to keep the ground swelling.

CPAC is the annual meeting of the American Conservative Union.

Who attends this event? Let's let their straw poll define them.

- 31 percent said they would vote for Ron Paul in 2012. Mitt Romney got similar support from 22 percent. Sarah Palin -- a far cry from the Tea Party crowd's "Run, Sarah, Run" chant -- received support from 7 percent of those polled (only 1 percent better than "undecided").

- When asked if they viewed certain individuals favorably, the leader was South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (73 percent favorable against only 8 percent unfavorable).

- Rush Limbaugh, last year's keynote speaker, and Glenn Beck, who was featured this year, each received 70 percent favorable ratings against 27 percent unfavorable. RNC Chairman Steele, allegedly the leader of the conservative party, received only 42 percent favorable ratings against 44 percent unfavorable.

That is not a good sign for the Republicans. Obviously, those who are further right of center are not satisfied with the direction of the GOP.

During his CPAC speech Saturday, Beck told Republicans, "It's not enough just to not suck as much as the other side." When a significant faction believes both parties suck, the door is flung wide open for a third-party candidate.

Paul, who is basically a Libertarian even though he changed his official party affiliation back to Republican in 1988, has a lightning strike's chance of winning a nationwide election. His extreme views sound good in speeches but don't work well in domestic or foreign policy applications.

Paul is a few charts and a few billion dollars away from being the next Ross Perot, the Reform Party candidate who split the conservative vote in 1992 and 1996, assuring safe passage for Bill Clinton.

The more wind Paul steals from the sails of more likely challengers, the more Democrats will jump for joy like customers in the old Toyota commercials before the recalls.

In fact, when President Barack Obama made his regular weekend trip back to a mosque in Indonesia to visit his terrorist pals and check out his birth certificate, he said a special prayer to Allah and joined Tiger Woods in rubbing a big bronze Buddha belly thanking both deities that it appears the GOP would split their votes again.

Someone has to take the wheel before the conservative ship of fate is wrecked.

But the bright lights of television cameras have won the loyalty of Mike Huckabee and Palin. Both are still involved in the discussion, but being a real candidate isn't a part-time job. And punditry doesn't lead to the presidency.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has already completely flipped positions on cap-and-trade and other policies, forcing you to ask yourself what year it is before you can know his position.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal had his high-flying aspirations melt like Icarus' wings when he tried to answer Obama's first speech to Congress.

The Tea Party's first big victory started feeling more like a tie after newly elected Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown joined two other Republicans and 57 Democrats to help the Senate pass the Obama administration's jobs bill this week. He went from being spoken of as a potential presidential threat in 2012 to having his photo dyed red on drudgereport.com Tuesday.

Romney has a business background and might be the most credible candidate. But his Mormon faith makes some voters uncomfortable, and he lost to John McCain in the 2008 primary so he doesn't strike fear in many hearts.

Marco Rubio has come out of nowhere to threaten Florida Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida's Republican Senate primary. It's easy to run as an upstart, but by the time Crist's campaign fights back, much of the shine on Rubio will have been tarnished.

I can't see who has the charisma and character to unify the conservative collective.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If they can't speak with one voice, Obama will have no trouble securing a second term.

Kent Bush is publisher of the Augusta Gazette in Augusta, Kan. Contact him at publisher@augustagazette.com.